Meet William Hays, the Carlisle barber who married Mary in 1769, when she was about fifteen. A barber in the 1700s cut hair, shaved beards, and heard every bit of news in town — an ordinary working man, and exactly Mary’s kind of person.

This lesson follows the young couple’s modest life, built one coin at a time, as war clouds gather over the colonies. When William answers the call to serve as a soldier and gunner, Mary faces the choice that changes her story forever: stay home, or follow the army.

Lesson 1C of the Molly Pitcher Life Story series from Capite Universe — history brought to life for kids ages 6–14, and for families and classrooms who love learning through story.